Seoul Court Rules KEC Discriminated Against Female Workers in Promotions, Orders Back Pay

The Seoul Central District Court has ruled that semiconductor manufacturer KEC discriminated against its female production workers by denying them promotions based on gender, resulting in wage disparities. This marks the second judicial decision acknowledging such discrimination by KEC, after a similar ruling by the Seoul High Court last October.

The court ordered KEC to pay a total of 35 million won, including back wages and damages, with delayed interest, to three female production workers who filed a lawsuit against the company. The ruling acknowledged that female workers had a significantly lower promotion rate and longer promotion timelines compared to their male counterparts.

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It frequently happened that female workers who were eligible for S-grade promotion were omitted due to receiving a C grade in their performance evaluation, and the promotion process, including the department head's recommendation, was not conducted fairly.

Data from 2015 to 2019 showed that while 38 female production workers were promoted, they remained in the J-grade level. In contrast, 17 male workers were promoted to S-grade or higher during the same period. Even female workers with over 20 years of service at the J3-grade level were not promoted to S-grade, while male workers with 5-6 years of service achieved S-grade promotions.

The court found that subjective evaluations by performance managers unfairly disadvantaged female workers, and that there was no reasonable justification for this disparity. It noted that female workers were frequently excluded from promotions due to low performance scores, even when qualified, and that the recommendation process for promotions often excluded women.

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Male workers were not specifically hired for the 'keeper' position. Moreover, even among female workers from the same vocational high school, they were not even provided training opportunities for 'keeper' duties.

Additionally, the court cited KEC's failure to meet the national average for female representation in production and management roles, which led to its inclusion on the Ministry of Employment and Labor's list of 'Active Employment Improvement Measure Violators' in 2017 and 2020. The National Human Rights Commission's 2019 recommendation for KEC to establish and implement a gender equality plan was also considered.

However, the court's decision not to recognize discrimination in the hiring process was criticized. KEC hired female workers at the J1-grade and male workers at the J2-grade, citing different job roles and requirements. The company argued that the J2-grade was for 'keepers' who perform 24-hour maintenance, a role not offered to women. Union representatives countered that the 'keeper' designation was not specified during male hiring and that female workers were denied training opportunities for these roles, suggesting a clear hiring discrimination that the court overlooked.

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The company is not even considering corrective measures. Instead, they are fueling labor-management conflict by promoting only some members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' female union members while excluding female union members from the Korean Metal Workers' Union who filed the lawsuit.